Bellator hosting six tourneys per season in 2013, wants three annual title defenses

As expected Bellator is expanding from four tournaments per season to six beginning in 2013.

According to Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney, it’s all part of the organization’s goal to have each of its titles defended three times per year.

In the past 12 months, Bellator’s eight titles have been defended just six times total. But with the move from MTV2 to the bigger Spike TV in 2013, that should change.

“What you’ll have is more weight classes in each 12-week run that we do, and you’ll have greater frequency,” Rebney recent told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Bellator is hosting 25 events this year. Rebney said 25 also are “fully booked” for 2013, though more could be added.

But regardless, the champions are expected to be busier as the increased number of tournaments consistently crown new No. 1 contenders. That’s, of course, a primary concern for the organization. Light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu hasn’t defended his belt in more than 15 months, and Zoila Gurgel’s women’s 115-pound title has collected dust for more than 22 months.

Only the welterweight title, which has long been held by Ben Askren, has been contested more than once in the past year.

“If you look at the champions in the other organization, the UFC, they’re fighting on average two times to defend the belt per year, and sometimes three if they can squeeze it the right way,” Rebney said. “We’re going to have that same dynamic. We’re going to look optimally to get to three title defenses per year.

“We want guys fighting every four, four-and-a-half months per year.”

All of this, of course, is geared toward the production of bigger cards and bigger fights for Bellator’s arrival on Spike TV. The promotion will have a much bigger presence thanks to the deal, which also includes a fight-centric reality show that’s slated to debut in mid-2013.

Of course, Bellator also is holding back some big-name talent for the Spike TV events. For example, fans were a bit disappointed that the upcoming Season 7 welterweight tournament, which kicks off Sept. 28 at Bellator 74, doesn’t include bigger names such as Ben Saunders, Douglas Lima and Paul Daley, who instead will likely get a fight each during the fall season.

Rebney, though, said that was by design.

“The tournaments are tough,” he said. “Physically getting ready for that (weight) cut every 30 days and stuff like that is a difficult run. We took a lot of guys who just fought and said, ‘Look, you’ll be on Spike (instead). We may get you one fight in the interim, though.’ … It’s all to make sure they’re ready to go in January on Spike.”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming cards, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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